Brand New

19 Apr

“Everybody’s trying to repeat the past with the new network, with new devices and new tools. Why not make something brand-new?” ~ Om Malik

Have you ever wondered about things that are “new”. I often have. I would look at something and say to myself, “That’s not new. It’s just a new box, a new container, has new colors, has an extra part, et cetera.” It was not something that was new, it was something that was modified. I guess the advertising community decided a long time ago that something would not sell as well if big letters said “Recently Modified!” rather than “Brand New!”

If you take the time to think about it, that is what we often attempt to do with our faith lives and with our relationship with God. We want to be modified. We want to be a little bit more of this or a little bit less of that. However, we want to remain intact. We do not want to be changed, just modified.

But God is calling us to something entirely different. He wants us to be brand spanking new. He wants us to be so different, so re-created, that we spark an interest in others and inspire others to turn their lives over to God as well.

I often think about some of the prisoners that I met at Indiana State Prison or Lakeside Prison. There were some individuals who were merely playing the game of change. They may have done so for extra benefits, for a chance to get out of their cell and go to the chapel, to have their participation marked in their record so that it would look good for the parole board. It was often very easy to see that there was no real change in these individuals. They were just slightly modified; but, not for the good.

Then, there were others who totally turned their lives around. They were like Saul who encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus. He was then no longer Saul, but, Paul. His new name reflected the fact that he was a brand new person. He was not the old person at all.

We are called to do the hard thing: to let God change us entirely. We are not to hold on to our old ways of life. We are not to hold on to our present securities. We are not to hold on to anything that may inhibit us from forming a deeper relationship with God. We are to let go and let God re-create us through the power of His Holy Spirit.

Let God in today. Let Him have His way. Trust me — He knows what He is doing!

FAITH ACTION: Ask God to give you the grace to get out of His way so that He can make you brand new.